


i forget that i'm older (i want to dance with you right now)

by AtLoLevad



Category: The West Wing
Genre: F/M, Family, Post-Series, Romance, Wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-05
Updated: 2017-11-05
Packaged: 2019-01-29 16:42:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,288
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12635013
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AtLoLevad/pseuds/AtLoLevad
Summary: Josh and Donna dance at their daughter's wedding





	i forget that i'm older (i want to dance with you right now)

"You know," Josh said, voice a low whisper, "we can sneak right out of here if you want."

"Dad," Josie rolled her eyes, an affectionate smile spreading across her happy face.

"Hey, I'm just sayin'," Josh grinned back. "Mom and I wouldn't be mad."

She tucked her hand in the crook of his elbow, "But I think Jack might be."

Josh shrugged, "Eh, I guess we should take his feelings into consideration, huh?" He rested his hand over hers and squeezed it a little.

"I would kind of like my dad to get along with his son-in-law," Josie said breezily, eyes sparkling. "And you guys have gotten along so well for the past 30ish years, I'd hate for you to ruin it now."

The start of organ music saved Josh from a response. Ahead of them, Josie and Jack's family and friends marched down the aisle, with Jed Bartlett's youngest great-granddaughter acting as flower girl. Josh smiled sadly as the three-year-old toddled down the aisle. It felt like just yesterday when Josie had been that small. Now he was walking her to her future.

"Ready, baby?" he whispered, voice catching a little in his throat.

Josie nodded, looking like she might burst from excitement.

The music started again, the familiar strains of "Here Comes The Bride", and Josh started the slow walk. He was relatively fit for his age, but his hips and knees weren't great. Josie slowed her own gait to match his and he squeezed her hand in silent thanks. She squeezed back, but Josie only had eyes for Jack, standing tall and handsome in his tuxedo at the altar.

Josh, for his part, only had eyes for Donna. His wife of nearly 30 years was sitting on the edge of the front pew, practically falling into the aisle as she watched Josh and Josie make their way to the alter. Her eyes were filled with tears, but she wasn't crying. When she realized that Josh was looking right at her, Donna caught his eye, grinned, and winked. He winked back, reaching his hand out to brush hers as they passed.

"Who gives this woman to be married?" the priest asked as Josh and Josie stopped at the front of the church.

Josh smiled widely, his eyesight blurring slightly from tears. "Her mother and I do," he said, choking up a little. He lifted the veil off of Josie's face and kissed her cheek before stepping down and taking his spot next to Donna.

Her hand found his quickly and didn't let go for the duration of the ceremony. As Jack and Josie shared their first kiss as husband and wife, Donna leaned into Josh's side, happy tears falling down her cheeks.

"You're going to ruin your makeup," he whispered, kissing the side of her head.

"Oh, shush," she laughed, wiping under her eyes with her free hand.

The music started again and Josh led Donna out into the aisle so they could walk out of the church. Donna and Ainsley grabbed each other's hands and cried as they hugged, leaving Josh and Sam to fall into step next to each other as they had done so many times before.

"We did it, old man," Sam grinned, his happiness making him look much younger than his 71 years. Josh elbowed him in the side.

"Old? Hah, I'm only as old as I feel," Josh replied, reaching out to steady himself on the railing to leave the church. He squinted against the sudden sunlight.

"The kids just got married," Sam laughed, sliding on his sunglasses, "I don't know about you, but I feel old."

Josh watched Donna and Ainsley smile and wave as Josie and Jack climbed into the limo to take them to the reception venue. Donna turned briefly and caught his eye, winking quickly. Josh smiled and told Sam, "Donna keeps me young, my friend."

Josh maintained his composure during the first dance, and the father-daughter dance, and the mother-son dance. All three were close calls, but he managed to get through the collective ten minutes without really crying. Sure, he teared up a bit. But he definitely didn't reach Donna and Ainsley levels of crying.

But now? Now with Jack and Josie slow dancing in the middle of the dance floor, with Sam and Ainsley swaying gently nearby and Danny and CJ swaying too, slower, with the dance floor packed with couples, Josh cried a little more openly.

"Hey, what's the matter?" Donna asked lowly, her fingers twisting into the white hair at the nape of his neck. She lifted her head from his shoulder and looked up into his eyes.

Josh smiled at her. Donna was thinking about retirement now, but she was still just as beautiful as the day he had met her. Her blonde hair was mostly grey now, a silvery color that caught the light. She'd never really gotten back to her original weight after the kids had been born, but she was still trim. Josh liked her better this way, her knees and elbows weren't as bony in bed.

"Nothing," he mumbled, turning her in a circle.

"Liar," she shot back, "Josh, it's okay to cry." She ran her hand up and down his back, rubbing in soothing circles.

"I'm just thinking about how grown-up she is," Josh confessed. He turned his head and caught sight of Josie laughing in Jack's arms, head thrown back. Donna glanced over in time to see Jack cup Josie's cheek and kiss her softly.

"We did a good job with her though," Donna murmured. "With all of them, really."

"Noah's still a little shit about cleaning up when we go visit," Josh cracked a joke at their youngest son's expense, trying to rein in his feelings. It worked since both he and Donna chucked a little. She sniffled a little around her laugh and clung to his chest.

"I can't believe it, Josh," she murmured, shaking her head a little. "I can't believe we're old enough to have a daughter that's married."

"I can," Josh grumbled, his steps faltering for a moment as his hip locked. Donna kept him upright with a slight frown on her face.

"You okay?"

"Mhm," he replied, wincing against the dull pain. This was a happy moment and he'd be damned if he wasn't going to enjoy the whole night. Dipping his head a little, Josh pressed a kiss to the corner of Donna's mouth. "Love you."

Donna smiled widely up at him, "Love you."

She leaned her cheek against his shoulder and enjoyed the way Josh's arms tightened around her back. Sometimes, in particularly quiet moments, Donna thought about their journey and where all of their choices had led them. She never could have imagined that sneaking onto the Bartlet campaign nearly forty years ago would have led her to this moment - dancing at her oldest daughter's wedding with her husband of three decades. As much as he drove her crazy, Donna's love for Josh scared her sometimes with its depth.

Eventually, the slow song transitioned into something much more upbeat. The older couples - Josh and Donna's contemporaries - either moved back to sit at their tables or moved to the edge of the dance floor. The younger couples - Josie and Jack's contemporaries - let out laughter and started dancing with wild abandon.

Josh and Donna remained wrapped in each other's arms, dancing slowly in the middle of the throng of people younger than them.

"Hey, Donna?" Josh said suddenly. Donna didn't reply, but Josh knew she was listening, she was always listening. He leaned down to whisper, "thank you," in her ear, hoping she would understand.

Donna's lips curled into a smile against Josh's tuxedo jacket.

She understood.

**Author's Note:**

> Law school keeps me busy, The West Wing keeps me sane. I've been working on this in bits and pieces for a while. It's finally done to the point where I'm happy with posting it. I'm always a little wonky on time, but figure Josh is about 75, Donna is 63, Sam's 71, and Ainsley's about 65-66. I liked the idea of Josh's daughter marrying Sam's son, just happened to be a weird coincidence that they both have J names.
> 
> I've also never really written characters at this stage in their life, meaning above middle-age. So that was kind of fun and I hope I pulled it off! Let me know what you think :)
> 
> Oh! Also the title comes from "say you wont let go" by James Arthur which is a song that I loooove and I listened to a lot while writing this. I think it fits J and D perfectly.


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